I had been wrestling with the idea of blogging some of my life experiences with the intent of encouraging others who may be going through similar situations. Although the main audience being those who have been attending church for a long time and are caught in the cycle of just "doing church", I believe these stories will reach all audiences with God's help.

I'd rather fail miserably at something I feel God asked me to do than just sit back and wonder what could've, would've or should've happened.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Gearing Up For War

I feel like I left you hanging last week with the war thing (read We Are At War Whether You Like it or Not blog). It's almost like I told you "we are in big trouble" and left you with no solution. Well the rest of Ephesians 6 explains how we should gear up for this war.

Of course I am going to put a twist in it so that we can have a little fun and learn something at the same time. Now this book of Ephesians was written back in the day so they used visuals that were common then - war gear. I'm going to try to bring it to something more up-to-date and since it's football season, I will use that.

I also believe that these different war gear suggested by Paul is talking about different characteristics of the Word of God (don't try to sue me....it's my opinion & my blog). Hopefully by the end of this blog you will understand where I'm coming from.

Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14)The last thing you want to happen in a war is have your pants fall down! Talk about AWKWARD!! The Bible is also considered the Truth. We should use the Bible as a comparison tool in life - "what does the Bible say about that?"

Breastplate or shoulder pads of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14)

One way to kill someone in a war is to stab them in the heart. This breastplate protected that. In football, the shoulder pads protect the heart and give you confidence. The only way to be righteous before a Holy God is by His son, Jesus, who died for us for that same reason, among other things. The Bible is a love story about just that. John 1 explains more.

Shoes or cleats of the Good News (Ephesians 6:15)

The right shoes are important for anything you do. War and football is not different. So we are to share the Good News a.k.a Jesus' sacrifice for us with everyone we can. It's what Jesus left for us to do.

Shield or stiff-arm of faith (Ephesians 6:16)

In football there is no "shield" but you can stiff-arm a defender if they try to tackle you! Faith helps you protect yourself when your opponent tries to come against you. Faith come by hearing and hearing the, you guessed it, Word of God.

Helmet of Salvation (Ephesians 6:17)

Obviously protecting your head is important at war or in a football game -but this also includes your mind. We are continuously thinking (well some of us) and this is the perfect place to begin the attack for our opponent. This is why we should protect our minds daily! Salvation is part of that love story the Bible keeps referring to time and time again.

Sword or Football of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17)

The sword is how we attach the enemy and in football you can't score without the ball! Most of us would agree that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. My thought is that Paul was doing one of his run-on sentences and when it says ", which is the Word of God" he was referring to all of the previous gear he mentioned. Once again, this is just my opinion. This is no theological conclusion (that I'm aware of).

In a nutshell, prepare for this war daily guarding your mind & heart by reading the Word of God then share the Good News to others. Memorize some verses so you can defend yourself against your opponent and ATTACK him with the Word of God!!